Otto II, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg (about 1266 – 10 April 1330), also known as Otto the Strict (''Otto der Strenge''),
[Some sources: Otto the Severe or Otto the Strong.] came from the
House of Welf
The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...
and was
Prince of Lüneburg
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fem ...
from 1277 to 1330.
Life
Otto the Strict was born around 1266, the son of
John of Lüneburg (d. 1277) and Duchess Liutgard of Holstein.
Otto was underage when his father died, so the administration of the duchy went initially to his uncle, Duke
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s
* Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street mar ...
(d 1279) and, after his death, to his uncle,
Conrad I,
Prince-Bishop of Verden
This is a list of bishops, prince-bishops, and administrators of Verden. The Catholic Church, Catholic Diocese of Verden (), was a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, Archdiocese of Mainz. From the 12th century, the Bishop of Verden ...
. From 1282 Otto ruled in his own right.
His rule was marked by several feuds, financed by pledges (''Verpfändungen''), involving border and property disputes with his neighbours. Otto restricted the rights of the knights and safeguarded public order. The settlements of Harburg, Dahlenburg (1289) and
Celle
Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...
(1292) were given
town rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
. In 1302 he bought the
County of Wölpe for 6,500 silver
marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks
A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...
. Following the controversial election of the king in 1313, Otto linked up with his brother-in-law,
Louis of Bavaria, from whom he was
enfeoffed
In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...
with an imperial fiefdom in 1315. On 28 November 1315 Otto passed a law of succession that granted the duchy after him to his two sons, Otto and William, jointly.
Otto died on 10 April 1330 and was buried in St. Michael's in Lüneburg, the monastery he had built.
Successors
Otto married Matilda of
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
(1275 – 1319) in 1288, the daughter of
Duke Louis the Strict of Bavaria (d. 1294). The following children came from this marriage:
* John (d. 1324),
Apostolic administrator
An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
of the
Archdiocese of Bremen
The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Bremen-Verden, Duchy of ...
*
Otto III
Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto III was c ...
(1296–1352), Prince of Lüneburg
* Louis (d. 1346), Bishop of Minden (1324–1346)
*
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
(d. 1369), Prince of Lüneburg
* Matilda (d. 1316) married after 1308
Nicholas II
Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...
, Prince of Werle
Footnotes and references
External links
*
*
The Welfs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto 02 #(Brunswick-Luneburg)
1260s births
1330 deaths
Princes of Lüneburg
Old House of Lüneburg